Reflection About Community

The final piece of creating a new definition of community for me was being exposed to the Community dialog participants words. During the question and answering panel, I created a different definition of community by just listening to enriched experiences that the ladies had over the years. One of the presenter said, “ Whatever happens is yesterday.Today, we try. Tomorrow is a new day.” From this quote and the speaking of the relationships that had been created by community partnerships in this area, I felt my definition of community was bringing small part or resource like, Sister Carmen together to provided more for the whole, the children of Boulder County. I enjoyed listening to the stories of never giving up on a child even, if his or

Third, Community is your religion. The day you begin to realize what community means to you is the day you begin to believe in it. Anywhere you go, it will be an instinct for you to represent your community, whether it be through sports or just leisure travels. You represent what means most to you and will always defend it the best you can. Community is not an actual religion, but it is a personal religion.

Community can be an isolated form or in conjunction with religion and sensory pleasures. In terms of religion, from my own personal observations and experiences, modern escapes through religion is coupled with relationships you make within your religious community. Growing religious fervor and mysticism characterized the Middle Ages and the relationships with God. St. Francis of Assisi, a 13th century mystic, conformed his life in every act with that of God, abandoning a life of wealth and material satisfaction. As a mystic, his connection to God was direct and substantial compared to the common person. Societies used religion to justify world occurrences. However, as societies evolve, the way in which religion is used to give life meaning evolves as well. With the advancement of scientific knowledge and the evolution of religion, particularly after the Church was accused of corruption and religious hegemony waned – not entirely, but to some degree – many cultures enjoy the Church communities in addition to weekly liturgical practices. With the knowledge that some worldly occurrences are not the direct work of God, but by the doings of nature and science, can people rely less on God for prosperity and instead use religion as a tool to find meaning and solace. Moreover, while developing a relationship with God, one can find themselves forming relationships with those who are attempting to achieve the same objective. Sharing beliefs, in itself, also provides consolation and support amongst the terrors of history, suggesting that those in troubles are not the sole victims of these

Living in Christian community is a necessity for the everyday life of a Christian. Without community, the Christian has no one else to “sharpen” them, no one else to understand the everyday struggle of living in the world, sharing the Gospel, but not partaking in the sinful ways of the world. In “Life Together”, Dietrich Bonhoeffer explores Christian community, and presents not only the benefits of Christian community, but also the toxins that can destroy the community. Living in Christian community brings incomparable joy and community in and through Jesus Christ, but can be easily lost due to humanistic ideals, or “dreams”.

What does Christian community really mean? Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Faith in Community by Dietrich Bonhoeffer gives insight into what Christians relationships were designed to be like. The main theme Bonhoeffer explores is Christ in the Christian community under the Word of God. Bonhoeffer explains God’s gift of community by arguing the following: “It is grace, nothing but grace, that we are allowed to live in community with Christian brethren” (Bonhoeffer, 1978, p. 20). In addition the author adds, “Christian community is like the Christian’s sanctification. It is a gift of God, which we cannot claim. Only God knows the real state of our fellowship, of our sanctification” (p. 30). Overall Life Together is biblically

In a world that does not know the Gospel anymore, we must indulge in it, and love our fellow community though they may not share similar values, but find balancing in still remaining in our own values. Though many of times we find ourselves in opposition of the majority of the world, we must exude Christ love onto others as He does to us unconditionally. The author addresses ways in which we are able to live out our faith and still find a place within our community though they may not share similar values.

This was definitely a great experience where I got to explore a discourse community that I do not share the same values as and knew very little about previously. While one thing I learned was that it is easier to replicate many different things with vegan-friendly products, this made me realize that the experience in its entirety when you consume food is very important. If someone had handed me the corned beef seitan from the radical reuben and did not tell me what it was, I would have never guessed it was corned beef. But when it was placed with thousan island dressing, cheese, and sauerkraut it was pretty obvious when I tasted it that it was a reuben. So I have come to the realization that it is actually not very difficult to make an accurate

Living in community will expose selfishness, ambition, jealousy, dissension and impurity in ourselves, allowing us to experience loss, despair, and stress. Even so, all of this is important to our spiritual formation because we mature as Christians,

Dulles states, “It picks up the biblical theme that God has fashioned for himself a people feely communicating his spirit and his gifts” (50). The Body of Christ as stated in Dulles is, “the main point of mutual union, concern and dependence of the members of the local community upon one another,” (43). The body of Christ will only function is the whole community is willing to work together to reach a personal growth in their relationship with God. Now that we have an idea of what Church as mystical communion consists of I will discuss the strengths and weakness of this model. The strength of this model is that emphasizes a shared life with the community instead of shutting them off. This is a strength because when people come together as a whole everything holds so much more meaning and people can form a stronger bond with God, now that it is much more personal and voluntary. Another strength is that this model improves people spirituality and prayer life now that they feel that personal connection that they formed. A weakness of this model is that it creates unsure relationship between the visible and invisible, since Grace allows people to get closer to God through the invisible such as communion while the visible structure like institutionalism tries to emphasize their power over the whole people. I have discussed what the models mean, their strength and weakness of each so now I will note the difference and

A feeling of community is a part of worship which can only be shown and not felt through televised worship. This feeling of community envelops around me everytime I’m singing during worship. To feel the whole congregation lifted up in song and singing with all of their might to the Lord presents a feeling like no other. You can almost feel the Lord rejoicing with you. It definitely is something you can’t get from television. It is something that has to be felt in the presence of people and a sense of community. In a study that was done by the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, one participant was quoted as saying, “[Singing with other people] is kind of a group expression an[sic] it’s kind of like bringing everybody together and foeed[sic] on one thing.” Another participant was quoted as saying, “I feel God’s presence in the communion with the congregation, the caring and the friendly open feeling of the congregation to

Community is when people come together as one for a common good or goal. I give back to the community because I think I my success are not all because of my ability. I have the people who helped me and taught me lesson in life that help me reach my success today. I have given back to the community by volunteering on Sundays to teach confirmation. Teaching on sunday gives me a chance to know my parish better and also teach the students more about their faith. I think it is very important to have bond with those who you go to church with. This summer I

Lohfink, Gerhard. Jesus and Community: The Social Dimension of Christian Faith. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1984. Kindle.

A community is established when more than two people share the same values and through time this personal connection evolves into a fellowship governed by rituals, traditions, and a particular form of communication that when taken together makes a group of individuals whether living in a specific geographical area or connected by ideals so distinct that their distinguishing marks allow them to stand out from among the crowd. They do not just believe in something like an organization but they need each other to survive and thrive. A good example is the Old Order Amish Mennonite community wherein the community serves as source of identity, strength and provides the reason why they should sustain the community’s way of life.

I was visiting the local church for a community event when I met potential participant I wanted to include in a focus group. The Del City Church of Christ host a weekly initiative called the Community Cup, which takes place every Tuesday morning from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. The church provides free donuts, coffee, juice, and milk for the community as we harvest free fresh fruits and vegetable. I arrived at 7:30 a.m. on June 13th to have donuts with my grandchildren, after sitting for a while and observing the different individuals and families that came in and out I started walking around and greeting everyone. I introduced myself as a student at UCO, enrolled in a summer class called Linking Families and the Community. Of course, they commended me for sticking with it and I explained my assignment to them and asked if anyone would be interested in being a part of a focus group. Six of the guest agreed to meet with me the following week at 8:00 a.m. at Del City Church of Christ in a designated area; 2 of the 6 canceled when I called to confirm our appointment. On June 20th, I met Mandy White; age 18, Maribeth Snap; age 63, Mike Brown; age 43, and Juanita (no last name) approximately age 56.

I wouldn’t really say my community as a whole has an impact on me as a person but people in around me have had a huge impact on me for who I am today. The people who have the biggest impact on me is defiantly my family and friends, I have done so many things with them that made me the person who I am today.